Sorana Cîrstea

Sorana Cîrstea

Cîrstea at the 2012 US Open
Country  Romania
Residence Târgovişte, Romania
Born 7 April 1990
Bucharest, Romania
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro 2006
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $2,878,270
Singles
Career record 308-209
Career titles 1 WTA, 7 ITF
Highest ranking No. 21 (12 August 2013)
Current ranking No. 93 (13 October 2014)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 3R (2012, 2013)
French Open QF (2009)
Wimbledon 3R (2009, 2012)
US Open 3R (2009)
Doubles
Career record 126–100
Career titles 4 WTA, 9 ITF
Highest ranking No. 35 (9 March 2009)
Current ranking No. 247 (28 July 2014)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 2R (2009)
French Open 3R (2008)
Wimbledon 3R (2011)
US Open 3R (2009)
Last updated on: 28 July 2014.

Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea[1] (Romanian pronunciation: [soˈrana ˈkɨrste̯a]; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. Trained by Darren Cahill, she is ranked World No. 144 as of March 11, 2015. She achieved her career-high ranking of World No. 21 on 12 August 2013[2] and has appeared in the quarterfinals of the French Open and the final of the Rogers Cup.[3]

Playing style

Cîrstea is a power player with a deceptively good serve. Her groundstrokes are often erratic with an emphasis on going for a winner leading her to make a high amount of unforced errors per match but with a high number of winners.[4] According to the Tennis Spy, she does not appear to be fast around the court, but actually is deceptively quick covering the ground with her long strides and good reading of the game.[4] As a good doubles player, she is also a very solid volleyer, and also has solid groundstrokes.[4] Her forehands and backhands are delivered quickly on both sides.[4]

Early and personal life

Cîrstea was born to Mihai and Liliana in Bucharest,[5] but currently resides in Târgovişte where her parents have the origins.[6] She also has a younger brother, Mihnea.[5]

Cîrstea was introduced to tennis at the age of four by her mother. "My mum and dad have always followed tennis and they encouraged me to start playing the sport when I was young.[6] Sorana's father owns an ice cream factory in Târgovişte.[7]

She has cited Steffi Graf and Roger Federer as her idols.[6] Cîrstea speaks Romanian, English, Spanish, and French.[5]

In 2014, Cîrstea started dating Colombian tennis player Santiago Giraldo.[8]

Career

2005–2006: Last junior years and turning pro

Cîrstea is a former ITF Junior Circuit top-ten player, reaching her highest ranking of no. six on 26 June 2006. Her best results include a title in the 2005 German Junior Open (Grade 1) defeating Erika Zanchetta 6–2, 6–7, 6–3 in the final, a tournament she was finalist the year before and a runner-up place in the 2006 Trofeo Bonfiglio (Grade A) where she lost in the final to her compatriot Ioana Raluca Olaru after having defeated the then-top ranked world junior player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semifinals. She also made final appearances at the year-ending ITF Grade 1 juniors tournaments, Eddie Herr International, and Yucatán World Cup in 2005 and 2006, and in the Opus Nottinghill International in 2006.[9]

She turned pro in 2006 and ended her first professionist player year (aged 16!) as No.353 in WTA Rankings.

2007–2008: Reaching Top 40

In April 2007, she reached the final of the Budapest Grand Prix, a Tier III event held in Budapest, Hungary, as a qualifier. During the tournament, all of her main draw matches were pushed to three sets. She beat Martina Müller in the second round, Eleni Daniilidou in the quarter-finals and Karin Knapp in the semi-finals before losing to Gisela Dulko in the final and won the first set, when Dulko won her first title 6–7, 6–2, 6–2. By making it to the final, she became the first Romanian player to reach a Tour final since Ruxandra Dragomir in June 2000. During her run, she beat two players ranked inside the WTA top 40. Cîrstea lost in the finals of the doubles tournament at the 2007 French Open, when she and Alexa Glatch lost 6–1, 6–4 to the third seeds, Ksenia Milevskaya and Urszula Radwańska. In 2008 in Tashkent, she won her first WTA tour title, defeating Sabine Lisicki in the final.[10]

At the end of 2008, she was No.36 in WTA Rankings and the best ranked Romanian woman player in that moment, at only 18 years age.

2009: Grand Slam quarterfinals in Paris

Cîrstea began the year ranked 36th, losing to Dinara Safina at the Medibank International in Sydney 2–6, 1–6. In the doubles tournament, she partnered with Vera Dushevina and reached the second round, defeating Kuznetsova/Petrova 6–2, 3–6, [10–6], and losing to Black/Huber 4–6, 6–2, [6–10]. At the Australian Open, she lost in the first round of the singles tournament to Melinda Czink 2–6, 2–6, but reached the second round of the doubles tournament with partner Monica Niculescu, defeating Ditty/Gullickson 6–3, 2–6, 6–3, and losing to Dechy/Santangelo 2–6, 2–6.[10]

As a singles player, Cîrstea lost in the first rounds of the 2009 Open GDF Suez and Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, to Nathalie Dechy and Dominika Cibulková respectively. In doubles, she again partnered with Monica Niculescu for the Open GDF Suez, reaching the semifinals of the tournament before injury forced them to lose in a walkover to Peschke/Raymond. In Dubai, she partnered with Arina Rodionova and lost in the first round to Kirilenko/Radwańska 5–7, 4–6. Cîrstea received a bye in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, but lost in the second round to Elena Vesnina 7–5, 2–6, 3–6. In the doubles tournament, she partnered with Galina Voskoboeva and lost in the first round 2–6, 2–6, to Matthek-Sands/Washington. Cîrstea finished her hardcourt season with a loss in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami to qualifier Mariya Koryttseva 2–6, 1–6. Her doubles effort in Miami with Caroline Wozniacki also ended in the first round with a loss to Kuznetsova/Mauresmo 6–4, 4–6, [8–10].

Cîrstea's clay season began at the inaugural Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, Spain. She reached the semifinals, defeating Ioana Olaru 6–4, 6–2, Andreja Klepač 4–6, 6–1, 6–1, and Kaia Kanepi 6–4, 2–6, 7–5, before losing to Carla Suárez Navarro 2–6, 7–6, 2,6. In doubles, she partnered with Ioana Olaru and reached the quarterfinals, before losing to Hercog/Ulirova 1–6, 0–6. At the Barcelona Ladies Open in April, Cîrstea lost in the first round of the singles tournament to Anastasiya Yakimova 6–7, 6–7, but reached the finals of the doubles tournament with her partner Andreja Klepač. They defeated Groenefeld/Senoglu, Ani/Voráčová, and Hlaváčková/Hradecká, before falling to Vives/Sanchez in the final 6–3, 2–6, [8–10]. A week later, at the Fes tournament, Cîrstea again lost in the first round of the singles tournament, this time to Lourdes Domínguez Lino 3–6, 4–6, and again reached the finals of the doubles tournament, this time with Maria Kirilenko. Cîrstea/Kirilenko defeated Fernandez-Brugues/Thorpe, Czink/Keothavong, and Hercog/Olaru, before losing to Kleybanova/Makarova 3–6, 6–2, [8–10]. In May at the Estoril Open in Portugal, Cîrstea reached the quarterfinals of the singles tournament, defeating Kimiko Date-Krumm and Maret Ani, before falling to eventual champion Yanina Wickmayer 4–6, 6–1, 4–6. In doubles, she again partnered with Maria Kirilenko, defeating Ivanova/Yakimova, before losing to Coin/Pelletier in the quarterfinals 3–6, 6–1, [7–10]. At the Madrid tournament, she lost in the first rounds of both the singles and the doubles tournaments, falling to Alona Bondarenko 2–6, 2–6, in the singles and partnering with Vladimíra Uhlířová in the doubles to lose to Makarova/Kudrayvtseva 6–2, 6–7, [3–10]. Cîrstea then had her breakthrough tournament at the 2009 French Open. She began her campaign with wins over Carly Gullickson and an upset of 21st seed Alizé Cornet. Having advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, she defeated doubles partner Caroline Wozniacki, the tenth seed 7–6, 7–5. Cîrstea continued her unlikely run with a 3–6, 6–0, 9–7 upset over the fifth-seeded Jelena Janković to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal,[3] where she faced 30th seed Samantha Stosur, losing 1–6, 3–6. Her doubles effort with Wozniacki ended in the first round with a 4–6, 4–6 loss to Pennetta/Kirilenko.

Sorana Cîrstea in 2008

At the Ordina Open in the Netherlands, she defeated Monica Niculescu in the first round 5–7, 6–3, 6–3, but lost in second round to Yanina Wickmayer 4–6, 3–6. She paired with Dinara Safina for the doubles tournament, defeating Groenefeld/Niculescu in the first round and losing to Errani/Pennetta in the second round, 6–7, 1–6. At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Cîrstea was seeded 28th. She defeated Edina Gallovits and Sania Mirza in the first two rounds, but lost 6–7, 3–6 to eighth seed Victoria Azarenka in the third round. In doubles, she again partnered with Wozniacki, but lost in the second round to Koryttseva/Poutchek 6–4, 6–7, 4–6. After Wimbledon, Cîrstea entered the Swedish Open in Båstad, defeating qualifier Johanna Larsson in the first, before losing to Gisela Dulko in the second 3–6, 6–4, 6–7. She partnered with Wozniacki yet again, losing in the second round to Kondratieva/Lefevre 6–4, 4–6, [8–10]. Two weeks later, Cîrstea lost in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic to Agnieszka Radwańska 0–6, 1–6. Partnering in doubles with Maria Kirilenko, she reached the semifinals, defeating Granville/Gullickson and Coin/Pelletier, before losing to Chan/Niculescu.

Cîrstea had another improbable run at the LA Women's Championships in August, a warm-up to the US Open. En route to the semifinals, she upset fourth seed Wozniacki, again her doubles partner for the tournament 1–6, 6–4, 7–6, and Radwańska 7–6, 1–6, 7–5, despite Radwańska's serving for the match at 4–5 in the third set. In the semifinals, Cîrstea lost to Samantha Stosur 3–6, 2–6. Cîrstea/Wozniacki lost in the first round to Chang/Yan 1–6, 6–4, [10–5]. Her performance at LA earned her the No.24 ranking going into the Cincinnati Masters, where she defeated Meghann Shaughnessy and Anna-Lena Grönefeld before losing to 4th seed Elena Dementieva 6–4, 6–4. After Cincinnati on 17 August, she achieved her career high ranking, No.23. At the 2009 US Open, Cîrstea was seeded 24th. She defeated Ayumi Morita in the 1st round 6–1, 6–3 and Stéphanie Dubois of Canada in the 2nd round 6–4, 5–7, 6–4 before losing 3–6, 2–6 in the third round to eventual finalist Caroline Wozniacki, the no. 9 seed and her doubles partner. Cîrstea/Wozniacki defeated Bammer/Schruff and Azarenka/Zvonareva before losing 4–6, 2–6 in the third round to eventual champions Williams/Williams. After the US Open, Cîrstea lost her next five matches, posting first-round losses in the Hansol Korea Open, Toray Pan Pacific Open, China Open, Generali Ladies and Kremlin Cup.

She finished 2009 ranked 43rd in the world with a 21–24 match record.[10]

2010: Small decline and out of Top 90

Sorana Cîrstea at the 2010 US Open

In the 2010 Hopman Cup in early January, she played on behalf of Romania with Victor Hănescu. Romania was seeded sixth and finished last in their group, winning against the Australian team of Samantha Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt, but losing to the Spanish team of María José Martínez Sánchez and Tommy Robredo, the eventual champions, and the American team of Melanie Oudin and John Isner. Cîrstea posted a 3–6, 6–4, 6–3 win over Stosur and, with Hanescu, a 7–5 6–1 win over Stosur and Hewitt to win the Australian match. She lost in straight sets to Sanchez and Oudin.[10]

Leading up to the Australian Open, she lost in the first round of the Hobart tournament to Shuai Peng 1–6, 4–6. At the Australian Open in January, she defeated Olivia Rogowska in the first round 6–3, 2–6, 6–2, but lost in the second round to Alisa Kleybanova 4–6, 3–6. She partnered with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the doubles tournament, losing to Kirilenko/Radwańska in the first round 6–0, 6–7, 6–2.

Her next tournament was the Open GDF Suez in Paris, where she fell to Melanie Oudin 3–6, 0–6. She lost in straight sets in the first rounds of the Dubai, Acapulco, and Monterrey tournaments, to Francesca Schiavone, Sharon Fichman, and Sara Errani, respectively. At the 2010 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, she reached the second round, first defeating Kaia Kanepi 6–7, 6–3, 6–4, but ultimately losing to Jie Zheng 3–6, 5–7. In Miami two weeks later at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, Cîrstea defeated Michelle Larcher de Brito in a two-set thriller 7–5, 7–6 before losing in the second round to 3rd seed Venus Williams 4–6, 3–6.

Moving into the clay season, Cîrstea prevailed over 6th seed Maria Kirilenko in the first round of the 2010 Andalucia Tennis Experience 4–6, 7–6, 6–4. She then lost in the second round to fellow Romanian Simona Halep 4–6, 6–7. At the 2010 Barcelona Ladies Open she defeated Tamira Paszek 6–4, 7–6, but lost in the second round to Iveta Benešová 1–6, 4–6. Cîrstea was seeded 2nd at the 2010 Estoril Open and defeated compatriat Ioana Raluca Olaru 6–3, 3–6, 6–1 in the first round and Michelle Larcher de Brito 7–5, 7–5 in the second. In the quarterfinals, she beat Arantxa Rus 6–4, 6–1, but fell to Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6–1, 6–4 in the semifinals. In doubles, she partnered with Anabel Medina Garrigues to win the tournament, receiving a bye in the first round and posting wins over Peng/Zhang, Manasieva/Olaru and Diatchenko/Vedy. Cîrstea lost to Flavia Pennetta 1–6, 6–1, 1–6 in the first round of the Madrid tournament in May. Two weeks later, she qualified for the Strasbourg tournament, losing to Elena Baltacha 3–6 5–7 in the first round.

At the 2010 French Open, she lost in the first round to defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 3–6, 1–6. At the 2010 Aegon International she defeated seed 2 Francesca Schiavone 7–5, 6–3, losing in the second round to Svetlana Kuznetsova with the score 4–6, 7–6, 7–6. At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships she was defeated by defending semifinalist Petra Kvitová with the score 2–6, 2–6 in the opening round. At the 2010 GDF Suez Grand Prix she lost in the first round to a qualifying player Zuzana Ondrášková with the score 4–6, 2–6. She lost in the quarterfinal at the tournaments 2010 İstanbul Cup to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and 2010 e-Boks Danish Open to Klára Zakopalová. At the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, she qualified but lost in the first round to Sybille Bammer with the score 6–7, 2–6.[10] At the 2010 US Open, Cirstea lost to Sofia Arvidsson in the first round.

She ended the year placed 93st in WTA Rankings.

2011: Re-entering Top 60

Sorana Cîrstea at the 2011 BCR Open Romania Ladies

At the 2011 Australian Open, Cîrstea defeated Mirjana Lučić of Croatia 6–4, 6–2 before she was beaten by Shahar Pe'er of Israel in the second round 6–3, 6–2.[11] In the doubles tournament, she played with Lucie Šafářová of the Czech Republic and defeated the team of Sarah Borwell of Germany and Marie-Ève Pelletier of Canada 5–7, 6–2, 6–2. In the second round they lost to Cara Blackof Zimbabwe and Anastasia Rodionova of Australia 6–4, 7–5.[12]

In the 2011, Cellular South Cup, Cîrstea defeated Catherine Harrison in the first round 6–4, 6–2, before she lost to Shahar Pe'er 3–6, 2–6 in the second round. In doubles she and her partner Anastasia Pivovarova lost in the first round to Andrea Hlaváčková/Lucie Hradecká 6–3, 6–2. At the 2011 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Cîrstea defeated Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 6–2, 6–4. In the second round she lost to Laura Pous Tió 6–2, 6–1. Sorana played doubles again now with Andreja Klepač as a partner. They won the first round by defeated Eleni Daniilidou/Jasmin Wöhr 6–2, 6–0. They lost in the second round to Irina-Camelia Begu/Alexandra Panova 6–4, 3–6, [10–7].[13] Cîrstea qualified in singles for the 2011 BNP Paribas Open. In the first round she lost 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 to Alla Kudryavtseva.[14] In the Sony Ericsson Open, Sorana received a wildcard in singles, but lost 3–6, 6–1, 7–6 in the first round to Jie Zheng of China.

At the 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience, she lost in the first round 1–6, 6–4, 6–2 to Italian Sara Errani. Sorana paired with Maria Elena Camerin of Italy for the doubles tournament defeating Alberta Brianti/Aurélie Védy 6–4, 6–1. They lost in the second round to Sara Errani/Roberta Vinci 6–4, 6–7, [10–7].[15] In the next months Sorana didn't have good results. But she proved she is back in the form as she won 2011 Open GDF Suez de Cagnes-sur-Mer Alpes-Maritimes in France. It was a $100,000+ tournament with a lot of top-100 players. She beat Patty Schnyder in the first round and compatriot Alexandra Dulgheru in the second in the 2011 French Open before losing 6–2, 6–2 to China's Li Na.

She then made it into the main draw of the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, where she lost in straight sets to Pauline Parmentier. Sorana played doubles again with Ayumi Morita of Japan defeating Chia-Jung Chuang/Su-Wei Hsieh 6–4, 6–4. They won their second round 7–5, 6–3 against Sophie Lefèvre/ Evgeniya Rodina. They lost in third round to Sabine Lisicki/ Samantha Stosur 4–6, 3–6.

In Båstad, Sweden at the Collector Swedish Open Women, Cîrstea defeated Mirjana Lučić 7–5, 2–6, 7–5 in the first round. She lost 3–6, 3–6 in the second round to Vesna Dolonts. In Palermo, Italy at the XXIV SNAI Open Internationali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo Sorana won her first round match against Andrea Hlaváčková 6–3, 6–2. She lost in second round to Tsvetana Pironkova 2–6, 6–1, 6–1. At the Bucharest ITF of Romania, Cîrstea beat her compatriots Diana Enache and Mădălina Gojnea, before losing in the third round to Laura Pous Tió. She then played in Carlsbad, California at the Mercury Insurance Open. She was beat by Coco Vandeweghe of the United States in the first round 7–5, 6–7, 6–3. Next tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio Western & Southern Open Sorana qualified in singles for the main draw. In the first round she defeated Ksenia Pervak 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, but lost in the second to Jill Craybas 6–4, 1–6, 7–6.

In Dallas, the inaugural tournament of Texas Tennis Open, Cîrstea beat Jarmila Gajdošová 3–6, 6–4, 6–2 in the first round. In the second round she lost to Aravane Rezaï 6–2, 7–6. Sorana played doubles for the first time with Alberta Brianti of Italy. In the first round they defeated Kateryna Bondarenko/Alona Bondarenko 6–3, 3–6, [11–9]. In the second they beat Andreja Klepač/Tatiana Poutchek 7–6, 6–7, [12–10]. In the third or semi-final match they beat Sofia Arvidsson/Casey Dellacqua 6–3, 6–3. They won their final match and the title by defeating Alizé Cornet/Pauline Parmentier 7–5, 6–3. Cîrstea won her fourth WTA doubles title, while Brianti won her second.[16] At the US Open, Cîrstea lost in the first round to Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium. She paired with Ayumi Morita of Japan in doubles. They defeated Casey Dellacqua and Rennae Stubbs in the first round, but lost in the second to María José Martínez Sánchez and Anabel Medina Garrigues.

In Uzkebistan, she defeated Bojana Jovanovski and Aleksandra Krunić, but lost in the third round to Alla Kudryavtseva. Cîrstea played doubles too with Pauline Parmentier, but they lost in the first round to Iryna Brémond/Mandy Minella 6–2, 2–6, [10–8]. Cîrstea won the title in the Open GDF Suez de Bretagne in Saint-Malo, France. She defeated Estrella Cabeza Candela, Eva Fernández Brugués, Laura Pous Tió and Stefanie Vögele, before beating Silvia Soler Espinosa in straight sets.[17] In the Generali Ladies Linz, Asustria, Cîrstea played in the qualifying draw with great victories. In round of 32 or first round, Sorana beat Nikola Hofmanova 6–7, 6–0, 6–0. In round of 16 or second round, she beat Silvia Soler Espinosa 2–6, 6–1, 7–5. In quarters or third round, Sorana defeated Anastasia Rodionova 6–1, 6–2 to play in the main singles draw. In the first round, Sorana beat Tamira Paszek 7–5, 6–3. She defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova the 4th seed of the tournament 4–6, 6–0, 6–4 in second round. But lost in third round to Lucie Šafářová 5–7, 2–6. In France, Cîrstea won the Open GDF Suez Region Limousin, a $50,000+ Limoges ITF tournament featuring top 100 players. She defeated Paula Ormaechea, Stefanie Vögele, Michaëlla Krajicek, Akgul Amanmuradova, and Sofia Arvidsson.[10]

At the end of the year, she was in 60th place in the WTA rankings.

2012: Constant progress to Top 30

Cîrstea began 2012 ranked 60 in the world.[18] Her first tournament was in Auckland, New Zealand the ASB Classic. Sorana lost in first round to Flavia Pennetta of Italy 4–6, 6–7. In doubles she partnered with Darija Jurak of Croatia; they lost a first-round match to Kristina Barrois/Anna-Lena Grönefeld of Germany 3–6, 1–6.[19] At the Moorilla Hobart International Australia, Cîrstea defeated Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan in first round 6–2, 7–6. In second round Cîrstea beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States of America 2–6, 6–3, 7–5. In third round Cîrstea lost 6–0, 3–6, 7–5 to Angelique Kerber of Germany, after having two match points. In doubles, she paired again with Darija Jurak of Croatia. They beat Kristina Barrois/Jasmin Wöhr both from Germany 6–3, 7–6. Cîrstea/Jurak lost in second round 3–6, 5–7 to Irina-Camelia Begu/Monica Niculescu both of Romania.[20] At the 2012 Australian Open, Cîrstea eliminated 6th seed Sam Stosur 7–6, 6–3, in the first round. In second round she beat Urszula Radwańska of Poland 1–6, 6–2, 6–3. She lost in third round 7–6, 0–6, 2–6 to Sara Errani of Italy, in a very hard match, because Cîrstea suffered a back injury early during the match. In doubles Sorana played with Lucie Šafářová again like last year, but they lost to 9th seeds Natalie Grandin/Vladimíra Uhlířová from South Africa and from Czech Republic 2–6, 6–4, 6–4.[21]

Sorana Cîrstea at the 2012 BNP Paribas Open

At the 2012 PTT Pattaya Open, Cîrstea was seeded 7th. She defeated Erika Sema in the first round 6–2, 6–2 and then Misaki Doi in the second by the same scoreline. In the quarterfinals, she defeated top seeded and world number 8 Vera Zvonareva when Zvonareva was forced to retire with a hip injury in the third set 2–6, 6–4, 2–2. She lost in the semifinals 6–2, 5–7, 6–4 to Maria Kirilenko. In Doha, Cîrstea beat Jarmila Gajdošová in the first round 6–4, 6–1. In the second round she lost 4–6, 6–7 to Samantha Stosur the 3rd seed. Sorana paired with Anne Keothavong in doubles, but they lost in first round to Anabel Medina Garrigues and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6–2, 2–6, [2–10]. In Monterrey, Mexico at the Whirlpool Abierto de Monterrey, Cîrstea was the third seed in the tournament and received a wildcard in singles. In the first round she defeated Stefanie Vögele 6–3, 2–6, 7–5. Sorana lost in second round to Tímea Babos 4–6, 6–4, 6–2 the eventual champion.[22] Cîrstea was the 48th seed at the BNP Paribas Open. She defeated Iveta Benešová in the first round, losing in the second to Agnieszka Radwańska. In Miami, she lost a first-round match to wildcard Heather Watson in three sets.

In Spain, at the Barcelona Ladies Open her first tournament in clay, Sorana was the 47th seed. In the first round she beat Polona Hercog after she retired due to dizziness. Sorana defeated Lourdes Domínguez Lino in the second round. In quarter- finals, Cîrstea beat Olga Govortsova. She lost in her first semi-final of the tournament to Dominika Cibulková. In Stuttgart at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Germany, Cîrstea lost in the first round to Anna Chakvetadze 1–6, 0–6. In Estoril, Portugal at the Estoril Open, in the first round she lost 4–6, 4–6 to Silvia Soler Espinosa. At the Mutua Madrid Open in Madrid, Sorana upset seventh seed Marion Bartoli(FRA) in the first round 6–7(6), 6–4, 6–3. She lost in the second round to Anabel Medina Garrigues 6–1, 3–6, 7–5. In Rome at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia Cîrstea defeated Jelena Janković in the first round 6–3,4–6, 7–6(4). Sorana beat Sofia Arvidsson in the second round 6–3, 6–1. She lost in the third round to 4th seed Petra Kvitová 6–2, 5–7, 6–2. At the 2012 French Open in Roland Garros, Sorana lost in the first round to Li Na the defending champion 2–6, 1–6. In doubles, she partnered with Ayumi Morita and they lost in first round to Flavia Pennetta / Francesca Schiavone 2–6, 0–2 because of retirement. Morita had health problems.

In Birmingham, Great Britain at the Aegon Classic, her first tournament in grass, Cîrstea as the No. 10 seed lost in the first round to qualifier Melanie Oudin 6–3, 3–6, 2–6. In doubles Sorana partnered with Anne Keothavong and they lost in first round 3–6, 4–6 to Shuai Zhang / Jie Zheng. In Eastbourne, Great Britain at the Aegon International, Sorana lost in the first round to defending champion No. 4 seed Marion Bartoli 2–6, 2–6. At the 2012 Wimbledon Championships in London, Great Britain, Cîrstea defeated Pauline Parmentier (FRA) 6–4, 6–1 in the first round. Sorana beat the 11th seed Li Na in the second round 6–3, 6–4, but lost 3–6, 1–6 to Maria Kirilenko in the third round. In doubles, Sorana and Ayumi Morita lost in first round 3–6, 2–6 to Casey Dellacqua/Samantha Stosur.

At the Bank of the West Classic, Sorana as the 9th seed in the tournament beat Vania King in the first round 7–5, 6–4. Cîrstea defeated lucky loser Zheng Saisai 6–3, 6–3. in the second round.[23] In the third round she defeated 3rd seed Dominika Cibulková in three sets, 6–7, 6–2, 6–0.[24] Cîrstea lost in the semi-finals to Serena Williams in straight sets, 1–6, 2–6.[25] At the US Open, Cirstea defeated 16th seed Sabine Lisicki in the first round. In the second round, she lost to Georgian Anna Tatishvili. In the 2012 Guangzhou Open Cîrstea advanced to the semi-finals before losing to Laura Robson 2–6, 4–6.

2013: High ranked 21st

Sorana Cîrstea at the 2013 BNP Paribas Open

Sorana began the year at the 2013 ASB Classic where she lost her opener to Heather Watson. The following week, she defeated Nina Bratchikova before losing to Lauren Davis in the second round at Hobart. Cîrstea reached the third round of the first slam of the year at the Australian Open losing to Li Na. She then followed it up with a semifinal showing at the PTT Pattaya Open losing to eventual champion Maria Kirilenko. She then reached the third round at Indian Wells where she lost to Agnieszka Radwanska. At the 2013 Sony Open Tennis in Miami, Cîrstea made the 4th round after defeating Angelique Kerber in straight sets. She fell to Jelena Jankovic (6–0, 6–4) in the next round. At the French Open, she reached the third round losing to world no. 1 and eventual champion Serena Williams. She then reached the quarterfinal of the AEGON Classic falling to Donna Vekić. Cirstea lost to Camila Giorgi in the second round at Wimbledon.

She began the US Open Series with a semifinal at the Bank of the West Classic losing to Dominika Cibulková and a quarterfinal at the Citi Open losing to Alizé Cornet. In the Rogers Cup en route to reaching her first final in five years, Cîrstea beat two former number one players, Caroline Wozniacki, (5–7 7–6(0) 6–4) and Jelena Jankovic, (6–3,6–4) and former grand slam champions, Petra Kvitova, (4–6 7–5 6–2), and Li Na, (6–1,7–6(4)). She lost to top seeded Serena Williams in the final, 2–6 0–6. She then withdrew from the 2013 Western & Southern Open citing a back injury, and later retired from her first round match at the 2013 New Haven Open at Yale while trailing 3–0 against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She had reached now the 21st place in the WTA rankings.

At the US Open, she defeated qualifier Sharon Fichman 5–7 7–6 1–6 before then being upset by Japanese qualifier Kurumi Nara 7–5 6-1 in the second round. Her next tournament was the 2013 Guangzhou International Women's Open where she suffered another early round loss, this time to Bojana Jovanovski 2–6 1–6. She advanced to the second round of the 2013 Toray Pan Pacific Open after beating Julia Görges 4-6 4-6. She then defeated Misaki Doi before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round. She then lost her opening matches at Beijing and Linz to Bojana Jovanovski and Patricia Mayr-Achleitner.

By the end of the year, she had lost her No.1 Romanian position to rising star Simona Halep.

2014: Injuries, but Fed Cup success

Being ranked 22nd in the WTA Rankings, Sorana began the year by losing her openers at Auckland and 2014 Apia International Sydney to Sharon Fichman and Tsvetana Pironkova repsctively. At the Australian Open, she lost to Marina Erakovic in the first round in straight sets. She reached her first quarterfinal of the year at the 2014 PTT Pattaya Open where she was seeded 3rd. She defeated Anna Schmiedlova and Alison Riske before losing to Karolina Pliskova.

At the 2014 Qatar Total Open, she defeated qualfier Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round. Then she faced 2nd seed Agnieszka Radwanska and lost. The following week at Dubai, she defeated Italians Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani for a place in her second quarterfinal of the year. She subsequently lost to Caroline Wozniacki. This result was followed by 6 consecutive first round losses. She fell to Camila Giorgi in the first round at Indian Wells. She then lost to Pironkova in her opener at Miami. She received first round byes in both tournaments.

Despite the poor form in WTA tournaments, in April Sorana made a big contribution in Fed Cup, helping Romania promote to World Group II after defeating Serbia 4–1, with Sorana winning both her ties against Ana Ivanovic and Bojana Jovanovski.

After that, she lost to Teliana Pereira in the second round at the 2014 Family Circle Cup in three sets. She had a first round bye here as well. At Stuttgart, Cirstea lost to Julia Goerges in the first round. She took 5th seed Petra Kvitova to three sets in their opener at the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open but still lost. Then, she succumbed to American Christina McHale in the first round at the 2014 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. She managed to end her losing streak at the French Open by defeating Aleksandra Wozniak and Pereira in her first two matches. Then she lost to Jelena Jankovic.

At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, Cirstea lost to young American Victoria Duval in the first round. Cirstea was the top seed at Baku and defeated Tunisian wildcard Ons Jabeur in the first round but lost to eventual semifinalist Stefanie Vogele in the following round. Cirstea was the 8th seed at the 2014 Citi Open. She defeated Kiki Bertens in three sets in the opening round but then lost to Bojana Jovanovski in the following round.

At the end of the year, claiming some persistent small injuries, she had fallen down to No.94 in WTA Rankings.

2015

Sorana played in the 1st round of 2015 Australian Open only to lose 5–7 0–6 to Alexandra Panova. Still claiming injuries and missing all other WTA tournaments in the first 2 months of the year, she went down to No.142 in WTA Rankings by March 2.

Accolades

In 2011, MSN recognized Cîrstea as one of the most beautiful women in sports.[26] Bleacher Report also recognized her as one of the "25 Tennis Players You Have to Follow" on Twitter.[27]

Career statistics

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

This table is current through the 2015 Australian Open.

Tournament2006200720082009201020112012201320142015W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A 1R 1R 2R 2R 3R 3R 1R 1R 6–8
French Open A A 2R QF 1R 3R 1R 3R 3R 11–7
Wimbledon A LQ 2R 3R 1R 1R 3R 2R 1R 6–7
US Open A LQ 2R 3R 1R 1R 2R 2R 2R 6–7
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 3–4 8–4 1–4 3–4 5–4 6–4 3-4 0-1 29–29

Grand Slam doubles performance timeline

This table is current through the 2014 US Open.

Tournament200620072008200920102011201220132014W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 2–6
French Open 3R 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 3–7
Wimbledon 2R 2R 3R 1R 1R 4–5
US Open 2R 3R 2R 2R 1R 1R 2R 6–7
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 4–3 4–4 1–3 4–4 0–4 1–4 1–3 15–25

References

  1. ↑ "Sorana Cirstea". wtatennis.com. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "Players | Stats | Sorana Cîrstea". Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Janković upset by Romanian teen Cîrstea in three sets at French". SI.com. Associated Press. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Tennis Spy: Sorana Cîrstea (8 June 2009)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Players | Info (Biography) | Sorana Cîrstea". Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Off–Court | Getting to Know | Getting to Know... Sorana Cîrstea". Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "Sorana Cîrstea, fata care s-a ridicat cu banii de îngheţată" (in Romanian). Evenimentul Zilei. 23 January 2012.
  8. ↑ http://www.matchtenis.com/estoy-feliz-por-lo-que-logro-santiago-giraldo-este-ano-cirstea/
  9. ↑ Sengupta, Jaydip (16 February 2012). "Agnieszka Radwanska: The fan favourite". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 "Stats". tennis.com. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  11. ↑ Passa, Dennis (20 January 2011). "Relaxed Nadal moves toward another Grand Slam win". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  12. ↑ "WTA players; Sorana Cirstea; Doubles results, 2011". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  13. ↑ "Abierto Mexicano de Tenis 2011". Abiertomextenis.com.mx. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "Home". BNP Paribas Open. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  15. ↑ "Andalucia Tennis Experience / Marbella". Andaluciatennis.com. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  16. ↑ "Lisicki Overpowers All Comers, Wins Dallas". 27 August 2011.
  17. ↑ "16e Open GDF Suez: Interviews of the finalists". Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  18. ↑
  19. ↑
  20. ↑
  21. ↑ "Australian Open – Schedule of Play".
  22. ↑ "Sorana Cirstea activity".
  23. ↑ "Success for younger Radwanska in Stanford". 11 July 2012.
  24. ↑ "Serena through to Stanford semis; Bartoli, Cibulkova upset". Reuters. 14 July 2012.
  25. ↑ "Serena Williams to face Coco Vandeweghe in Stanford final". Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  26. ↑ "Most beautiful women in Sports". MSN. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  27. ↑ Tennis on Twitter: 25 Players You Have to Follow

External links

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